Right, so you can't just copy a game without restriction. That's DRM.
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I wish PC gamers cared as much about DRM as they do Epic Games Store
- Thread starter OSPC
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Uh Steam DRM is very easily bypassed. We don't need Valve to ever disable it if the worst happens because we can do that ourselves. That comment which others like JaseC have elaborated on is most likely about Valve removing authentication for content servers so you'd still be able to download and install games on the Steam client even if Valve and its main servers are no more.
Not all the Steam content servers are owned by Valve. That's way too many in too many countries. Valve allows third parties to set up their own that just tie into the Steam API and authenticate with Valve. It would mean that no matter what Steam could still launch and download games as long as people kept content servers hosted and running.
OP
OP
He argued that locking online features behind steamworks isn't DRM, which is objectively wrong.
That's a lie. I told you that you can play a game like DUSK without Steam, even though the game fully takes advantage of Steamworks. Then you moved the goalpost to multiplayer, and I talked about the reason for the use of Steamworks for MP (which is that it's easier to setup for the devs, and easier to use for the players). The game itself is still playable in singleplayer without Steam. There's also plenty of other SP games that use Steamworks and are still playable without Steam (DRM free). I even linked a resource listing some of them. Then you called that a "strawman".
OP
OP
Saying that Steam DRM is easily bypassed isn't a good argument for why it should exist in the first place.
Furthermore, you will always need the launcher to install your games. You can't back up offline installers or install directly from the website.
Furthermore, you will always need the launcher to install your games. You can't back up offline installers or install directly from the website.
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Right click on the game -> properties -> local files -> backup game files. You're welcome.
I'm starting to think this thread wasn't made in good faith.
OP
OP
I never claimed that all steam games required steamworks, hence the original strawman accusation.
Steamworks is objectively DRM though, and 98% of games on Steam use steamworks or other DRM in some capacity.
I meant offline installers
Steamworks is objectively DRM though, and 98% of games on Steam use steamworks or other DRM in some capacity.
I meant offline installers
There are options on PC if a company should go under so it doesn't bother me much.
Now, if we start seeing streaming-exclusive games, then I'll grab my pitchfork.
Now, if we start seeing streaming-exclusive games, then I'll grab my pitchfork.
Sure. Like, definitionally it is. There's a lot of nuanced takes on if it is or isn't, but ultimately it is. If you are absolutely opposed to DRM in any form, then that is something I entirely understand. It's a position I have sympathy with, and certainly lament the fact that rather than information being free, it's increasingly locked down and controlled by megacorps and governments. I do like GOG a lot and hope they continue to make more DRM free games available, which is obviously a good thing for everyone.
But most people outside of the Free Software Movement don't take such an absolutist stance. It's always a trade off, does X DRM mean I have access to Y features? If Y features are good enough, then that may be acceptable. I, personally, find the features offered by Steamworks to be an acceptable trade off for CEG. Other forms of DRM offer far less features (if any), so my view on how acceptable they are differs.
Still, I am unsure as to the point of this thread outside of the OP taking an absolutist stance against DRM and asking why everyone else doesn't. Which is a bold ask.
In short, hack the planet.
That's beside the point (and also not true, about the backup). If the launcher no longer functions, then the server it connects to is inaccessible - in this instance, any digital storefront will suffer the same.
Any storefront, by its nature, is a form of DRM. It restricts your right to download digital content, by having you provide an authentication code - your login and password - to prove that you own said content. If GOG's servers went down, you would be locked out of any games you didn't backup or install from there, just as you would with Steam. The only difference, is that if Steamworks went down, the multiplayer and social framework it supports would also go down, so even if games are playable in offline mode, they would lack online features.
No, you said (quote) "back up your games offline". You can obviously simply backup any of your games automatically.
You've also argued that you can not install a game from a website which is incorrect because there are clickable Steam links like this steam://install/730
If you tried to argue that you can not manually download some game files then you probably never tried to add a non-Steam game to your library.
Steam also still provides some "offline installers" btw. Thats why you can buy a PC game in retail which has a Steam logo on the box art.
Your issue is that a lot of people don't consider Steamworks DRM even though it technically is.
Too bad so sad?
You still need the launcher to reinstall using that method.
I think a lot of posters have either forgotten or are too young to remember what it was like before Steam. Online multiplayer wasn't locked behind any kind of login. You could get an installer that was portable and not tied into any other infrastructure or launcher. By tying that to an account, Steam is a form of DRM.
Now, overall, I do agree that Steam and platforms like it have provided benefits, but they are still DRM that restricts freedom we used to take for granted, while admittedly giving us convenience in return. That is just a categorical fact.
This seems more of a gotcha rant aimed at PC gamers than any attempt to open up discussion regarding attitudes to DRM as such this topic is now closed.
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